8 charged with arms trafficking, illegal export of ammunition in Arizona

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – An open alcohol container violation on Interstate 10 helped Arizona authorities secure federal charges against three alleged gun dealers.

A grand jury on Wednesday charged Francisco Bell, Ismael Higuera Avalos and Eziquio Chavez with arms trafficking, alleging they bought high-powered rifles under false pretenses at a Tucson gun show and at a pawn shop earlier this month.

It is one of three cases involving firearms and ammunition trafficking and illegal exports filed this week in federal courts in Arizona.

Tucson police officers stopped a Jeep Gladiator for speeding on Interstate 10 on Aug. 4 and found an open alcohol container in the vehicle’s cup holder. Officers searched the vehicle and found 16 AK-47s, an AR-16-style rifle, three handguns and $12,000, court documents show.

The traffic stop occurred shortly after agents with Homeland Security Investigations and the Arizona Department of Public Safety spotted two men, later identified as Bell and Higuera, enter the Tucson Gun Expo and emerge with several shotgun shells in the Jeep, according to a federal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

In an interview with HSI agents, Bell allegedly admitted that he did not buy the firearms for himself, as he had stated on a gun transaction form. He said Higuera gave him the money to complete the purchase and let agents search his phone, where they allegedly found messages from Chavez telling him which dealers to buy from and how much money to pay for them, court documents show.

Chavez reportedly told authorities in an interview that he didn’t know why his friends were buying so many guns and that he was “on probation and not allowed to be near guns.” He told detectives that his fingerprints “may have” been on a gun Bell gave him to put on the back of the seat, and that he became nervous and tried to hide $8,000 he happened to have in his pockets under the seat, court documents show.

A fourth passenger in the Jeep, who Bell told authorities “coordinated the entire plan,” was not charged.

Bell, Chavez and Higuera are scheduled to appear in court in Tucson on September 20.

In addition, a Mexican resident has been charged with attempting to illegally export 1,582 rounds of .50-caliber bullets and various other firearms related supplies during a raid at the Port Dennis DeConcini in Nogales, Arizona.

Maria Fernanda Meneses Aguilar, 21, of Nogales, Arizona, was attempting to cross the border into Sonora, Mexico, on the evening of August 22 when a canine officer alerted U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to possible contraband in the Chevrolet Silverado pickup she was driving.

Court records show CBP ran the Silverado through an x-ray port and found anomalies in the quarter panel. The ammunition, 15 rifle magazines and 2 rifle butts were found.

In an interview with an HSI special agent, Meneses denied knowing anything about the ammunition and said a “friend from the gym” had asked her to drive the truck to Mexico.

A search of her cell phone turned up messages from a person she identified as “Alexis” asking where she was and telling her, “They want the (car) already.” Court records show she told the officer her boyfriend and his father might be doing “bad things” in Mexico because he had allegedly bragged about his “mafia” connections. The vehicle was reportedly headed to the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

The third firearms case involves Wednesday’s indictment of four men for making false statements, aiding and abetting and arms trafficking.

Richard Anthony Defour, Rolando Hernandez, Daniel Pina and Mark Anthony Molina are charged in connection with the alleged fraudulent purchase of 11 AK-47-style rifles from two Arizona dealers and a pawn shop.

The charges, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, allege the men made false statements in order to obtain the guns, but do not elaborate on the alleged conduct.